DVD Review: Dark Blue World
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: A
DVD Special Features: A

Well, here's proof that you don't need a $152 million dollar budget, Ben
Affleck, Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer to create a memorable war film.  
Hollywood could certainly stand to take some lessons from this
Czechoslovakian production with its solid script, memorable characters,
outstanding performances and authentic World War II backdrop.  I would even be surprised if this wasn't nominated for an academy award for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars next year.

Franta Sláma (Ondrej Vetchý) is the Captain of a group of trained Czech
fighter pilots who are forced to hand over their base to the Nazis when their
country is invaded.  Instead of giving up and hoping for the best, they
travel to England and join the Air Force there in order to fight the enemy.
Franta leaves his girlfriend and dog behind while bringing along the youngest
pilot in the bunch, an extremely good looking lad named Karel Vojtisek
(Krystof Hádek).  Unfortunately, they and the others have to prove themselves
by learning the English language and training for several months before they
are ever allowed up in the air.

Much of the drama revolves around their interacting with the British
commander (the great Charles Dance, "Gosford Park"), their first couple of
missions, getting shot down, losing comrades and also the love of a woman.  
After surviving one crash, Karel is rescued by Susan (Tara Fitzgerald,
"Rancid Aluminum"), a married woman waiting for her husband to return and who is taking care of refuge children from London.  They share an intimate
evening and Karel soon finds himself falling in love with her.  As fate would
have it, he introduces Franta to her and she falls for him instead.  Karel
and Franta's friendship is soon put to the test and they will have to figure
out if the love of a woman is worth sacrificing their friendship over.

While all this is going on, a second story is being played out on the screen.
After the war and the surviving pilots have returned home, the Communists
took over and imprisoned them in hard labor camps for betraying their
country.  The only way out is death and the men find themselves sharing
quarters with members of the SS who are also being punished.  It's not a
pretty or happy story by any means, but it is a story very well told and also
based actual events.  The characters have been rewritten, but their actions
and the actions of their country after they returned are real.

Sony has released "Dark Blue Sky" in a beautiful Widescreen transfer that
captures the beauty of the countryside and the awe and horror of aerial
combat.  It's simply wonderful, the Dolby Digital audio is outstanding and
the subtitles are very easy to read.  There has been great care in the
editing where sound is concerned, especially during the battle sequences.  As
for extras, there are several!  First up is an audio commentary with Director
Jan Sverak and Producer Eric Abraham.  Eric helps Jan along with some of his
English, but the track is very good and much of it is spent discussing how
the film was shot, what went into it and the changes they made during
production.  They keep up the conversation throughout and give several
anecdotes about the cast and crew as it goes along.  More commentaries could stand to be like this.

Next up is a 33 minute documentary titled "Making of Dark Blue World" that
features interviews with the director, writer and actors and lots of
behind-the-scenes footage.  This isn't the typical fluff we're used to seeing
either.  It stresses the practical side of the filming process and where
compromises were made to get specific shots, especially a train explosion
sequence.  "Making the Visual Effects" runs almost 7 minutes and shows a
number of before and after shots along with blue screen footage, CGI and
other effects that are added in later to the completed shot.  There's also a
2 ˝ minute "Aerial Symphony" highlighting many of the films dramatic flying
footage and a 9 ˝ minute photo montage as well as five film trailers.

I wish more releases had the care that obviously went into this one,
especially with the supplementary material.  Sony has outdone themselves with
this disc and the film is well worth the effort.  If you enjoy foreign films
at all or the War genre, then you will definitely not want to miss "Dark Blue
World." Don't forget to be on the lookout for this one next year when it
comes time for the awards.


Kage holds degrees in Creative Writing, as well as Film & Video. He has been featured in a Life Journey Tele-Course, published poems in several national anthologies, been a contributor to The Third Coast Magazine and written several novels. kage@modamag.com